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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 3:9b; Rev. 12:10a; 14:1, 3-4, 14-16; 21:2, 10-11, 14, 18-19, 21; 22:1-2a
The seed of the kingdom is sown in Matthew, the sprouting of the seed takes place in Acts, and the growth occurs in the Epistles. Then in the book of Revelation there is the maturity, which is the harvest for the full coming of the kingdom. The book of Revelation presents the maturity, the harvest, the full coming, and the full manifestation of the kingdom. We have seen that the seed was sown in Matthew 13 and that it grew in 1 Corinthians 3. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth” (v. 6). In 1 Corinthians 3 we also have seen the matter of transformation; the plants have been transformed into minerals. The life of the seed has metabolized the plant into precious materials useful for building. The gold, silver, and precious stones are materials for God’s building. First Corinthians 3:9 reminds us that we are God’s cultivated land and God’s building. As God’s cultivated land, we grow Christ. Whatever is grown is then metabolized into precious materials for God’s building.
Revelation 12:10 says, “Now has come...the kingdom of our God.” What is the coming of the kingdom? The answer is found in Revelation 14. Revelation 14:1, 3, and 4 mention the firstfruits, the one hundred forty-four thousand. The number one hundred forty-four thousand is the product of twelve times twelve multiplied by one thousand. Please remember that twelve is composed of four times three, signifying the mingling of humanity with divinity. Now we have twelve times twelve multiplied a thousandfold. This means maturity among maturity. Thus, they are the firstfruits to God. Never forget that the seed is sown in Matthew 13 and grows in 1 Corinthians 3. The harvest is found in Revelation 14. Therefore, we have the seed, the growth, and the harvest. What is the harvest? The harvest is the coming of the kingdom, for Revelation 12:10 tells us that the kingdom has come.
When did the kingdom begin to come? In Matthew 3 the proclamation was made that the kingdom was near. However, it had not yet come. The kingdom began to come when the Lord Jesus appeared as the Sower to sow the seed, and it has been coming from that time. This coming is the growing and spreading of the seed. Coming means growing and spreading until maturity is reached. This maturity is the full coming of the kingdom; it is the harvest.
Regarding the harvest, the matter of primary importance is the firstfruits. If you read Leviticus 23, you will see that in God’s economy He first has the harvest of the firstfruits. In a field some fruit will ripen earlier than the rest. The farmer will harvest this as the firstfruits. Sometime after the firstfruits have been harvested, the remainder of the crop will ripen. At that time there will be the full harvest. At the beginning, there are the firstfruits, and later there is the full harvest.
The Bible says clearly that the Lord Jesus is with us all the days until the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20). Since He is with us, how can He come in the future? Is He not here today? Since He is here already, how can He come? This is something wonderful, and it cannot be systematized. Never rely on your natural concepts when studying the Bible. Your natural concept cannot give you a proper understanding of the Bible. On the one hand, the Lord Jesus is here. On the other hand, He is coming. This means that He has already come as the seed, but He is coming and will come as the harvest. He has come as the seed, and He is coming as the seed grows. Eventually, He will come in full as the harvest. Although nearly two thousand years have passed, the Lord Jesus has not yet come because the seed has lacked the growth. Due to the shortage of growth, it is difficult for Him to have the harvest.
The coming of the Lord will not be a sudden occurrence. One day the Lord Jesus will come, but not in the way you have probably thought. The Lord Jesus will not merely come from the heavens but will come from within you. You are expecting Him to suddenly descend from the heavens. However, you must realize that He will come out of you. But when the Lord Jesus comes out of you, He will not leave you. To all the unbelievers, He will descend from the heavens. But to us, the believers, He will not come from the heavens — He will come out of us.
How else can we interpret the statements that the Lord is with us and that He is also coming. The Lord has come into us, He is growing within us, and He is transforming us by performing a metabolic work within us. His coming is the completion of this work of transformation. The Lord will not merely come out of heaven; He will come out of us.
Together with Brother Watchman Nee we have considered all the schools of theology. We worked together, talked together, and fellowshipped what we had read. In this way we helped one another, and we came to know all these matters. We do know where we stand, and we do know what the Lord has committed to us. We read many of the books about the Lord’s second coming, studying the schools of pretribulation and posttribulation, premillennial and postmillennial. We also studied the different views about the rapture: the partial rapture, the pretribulation rapture, and the posttribulation rapture.
By the Lord’s grace and for the sake of His recovery, He has shown us this mysterious way — that His coming back is not according to our concept. According to our natural concept, the Lord sits on the throne watching and bestowing blessings until the day when He will suddenly appear. Nearly every theological book speaks of the coming of the Lord in this way. But the Lord Jesus is coming by the growth of life, not by a sudden appearance from the heavens. I know that you may quote Philippians 3:20, which says that we are waiting for the Lord Jesus to come from the heavens. But you must also read Matthew 28:20, which says that the Lord is with us all the days. I cannot tell you how much time we have spent studying these two verses. How can you reconcile them? You simply cannot do it. However, it is a fact that the Lord Jesus has sown Himself into us and that He is now growing within us, transforming us, and becoming matured within us. When He has ripened and matured within and through us, that will be the time of His coming. To us, His coming will not be a sudden event.
Many Christians talk about watching and praying, but few realize the real meaning of watching and praying. The way to watch is simply to grow in Christ. No one can be watchful without the proper growth. While you are growing, you are watching. While you are growing, you are preparing the extra portion of the all-inclusive Spirit as the oil in your vessel. This is what it means to be watchful. To be watchful does not mean that you read the prophecies, study the world situation, and observe the events in Russia, Israel, and the Middle East. Watching is not a matter of reading newspapers and collecting prophecies. If this is your way of watching, I am afraid that the Lord Jesus will come one day and that you will not know it. To be watchful means to grow with the Lord Jesus. You need to pray, “Lord Jesus, I am going to the department store. Will You go with me? I am going shopping. Will You go with me?” If the Lord says, “No, I want to stay home,” you should reply, “Lord, if You want to stay home, I will stay home too.” This is watching. “O Lord Jesus, I need to get a haircut. Lord, how long do You want my hair to be? I am one with You. Whatever You like, that is what I like.” This is what it means to be watchful.
When I was young, I was taught to watch and pray. I was taught to observe certain events such as the return of Jerusalem to the Jews and then to pray about them. I watched and then I prayed. But now I realize that to watch and to pray means to grow continually with the Lord, to live together with Him. Then you are in the kingdom. You are not only in the kingdom, but you are the kingdom. As you grow together with the Lord, you watch and pray. The Lord Jesus is with us, and His being with us is His gradual coming.
Revelation 14 reveals the maturity among all the maturities, signified by the number one hundred forty-four thousand. Some will be like this. I believe that many in the local churches will be mature, but some will be at the top of this maturity. This topmost maturity will be considered by God to be the one hundred forty-four thousand who will be the firstfruits. After this comes the harvest.
I beg you to take all these things into your spirit and bring them to the Lord in prayer. You will see this as the accurate realization of the New Testament. It is not simply a matter of interpretation of prophecies. We have studied all the good schools of prophetic interpretation. Probably some of you are familiar with G. H. Pember’s books on the great prophecies. We, too, are familiar with them. However, those books simply contain doctrines of prophecies; there is not much life there. What the Lord has shown us from His Word is the way of life. Even the Lord’s second coming is according to the way of life. He is the seed, He is the growth, He is the transformation, and He is even the harvest and the firstfruits. Whoever gains Him the most will be at the top of the harvest and will be the firstfruits.
Revelation 14:14-16 tells us that the Lord harvested the wheat. However, at the end of the book of Revelation, in the New Jerusalem, there is no wheat. In Revelation 14 the Lord Jesus harvested much wheat, but ultimately what became of it? All the wheat became gold, pearls, and precious stones. In Revelation 14 there are the firstfruits and the harvest; in Revelation 21 there are gold, pearls, and precious stones. The wheat has been transformed. In chapter 14 there is the harvest out of the growth; in chapter 21 there is the transformation of the wheat. The wheat becomes precious stones through transformation just as wood becomes stone as a result of being petrified. Are we wheat or precious stones? On the one hand, we are wheat, and on the other hand, we are among the precious stones. We are God’s cultivated land, growing wheat, and we are God’s building, composed of all the precious stones.
Eventually, the Lord’s harvest will become a city. The harvest of wheat in Revelation 14 will become the city in Revelation 21. In the harvest we can see the growth of life, but in the city we can see the transformation of life. Along with transformation there is building. Growth without transformation does not produce any building. However, with growth and transformation there is a building, a corporate Body.
The pure word of the Bible presents the Lord Jesus as the all-inclusive seed. There is the growth of the seed, the transformation of the seed, the maturity of the seed, and the ultimate consummation of the spreading of the seed in the holy city. The New Jerusalem is built with transformed materials. This is the kingdom. Within this city there is nothing but life: the tree of life grows in the river of life, and the river of life flows out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Life is the unique way that we must take. We all must be on the same street, the same way of life, with the water flowing and the tree growing. This will not only produce the building of God, but it will also sustain the building of God for eternity. For eternity, the building of God will be sustained by the flowing of life and the growing of life. Today we may experience a foretaste of the full taste. The local church is a miniature of God’s kingdom, with the life flowing to produce and sustain a building composed of precious materials. In the kingdom there is one life, one way, and one expression.
The entire city has the appearance of jasper, which means it has the appearance of God (Rev. 4:3). In the church life there is also one life, one way, and one expression. Regardless of the number of local churches, the way is one because the life is one. Therefore, the expression is also uniquely one. There should be no expression of either you or me. There should be no expression of Chinese or American philosophies. There should be no expression of doctrines or gifts. The city only expresses the image of God. Within the life of God there is the essence and the shaping. In the life essence of God, we receive the life regulation. Eventually, we will all be shaped into the image of God. We will not be according to our kind; we will be according to God’s kind. In Genesis 1 the vegetable life and the animal life are each after its own kind. We will not be after our kind but after God’s kind, bearing His image and expressing Him. All the local churches must have only one life, one way, and one expression. This one expression is not in doctrine or in teaching or in spiritual gifts. It is in Christ as the all-inclusive life.
